Poem In Honor Of Dr. Gerald M. Lucas Poem by David McLansky

Odysseus heavy barreled in an armchair
A man barrel voice
Wind swept over the Aegean
Over me in resonance
A man barrel voice
Over and through me
And kind.


This man whose thick hands
Could grasp a sword
And with meat-jointed arms
Carve a path a path through Trojan Spears;
This mortal twice blessed
By a flashing eyed goddess,
Beams at me
And lets his arms hang loose.

His cunning words
Playing over me gently,
And with sharing grin
His manly hearted laughter
Laughs over and through me
And breaths my cold gray flesh into blood
And laughs at my surprise.